Digitization approaches for urban cultural heritage : last generation MMS within Venice outdoors scenarios

This paper explores the use of Mobile Mapping Systems (MMSs) for urban Cultural Heritage (CH) documentation, which has become an increasingly important tool in surveying for rapid and accurate mapping of both internal and external environments. The study evaluates the performance of the STONEX® X120GO SLAM Laser Scanner, a recent commercial MMS, in documenting CH in various outdoor applications, including urban environments and inaccessible places. The methodology was applied to three test fields in the historic centre of Venice, which include Piazza San Marco, Santa Marta area, and the Venetian canal called Rio de le Toresele. The STONEX® X120GO SLAM Laser Scanner is composed of a 360° rotating head LiDAR scanner, three 5MP cameras, and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for geospatial 3D point cloud creation. The MMS was evaluated in terms of time, accuracy, and point cloud resolution against other active sensors such as Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLSs) and spherical photogrammetry. The results suggest that the tested MMS has reached optimal levels of development, enabling highspeed data collection and providing good accuracy for significant urban CH sites. Overall, the paper highlights the importance and potential of MMSs for CH documentation and emphasizes the need for ongoing development to optimize the management proces

The Stem Cells meet the Physics Big Machines

Stem cell based regenerative therapies involve the administration of selected stem cell populations with the purpose of repairing and regenerating damaged or diseased tissue. Currently available methods of monitoring transplanted cells are quite limited because they have to offer non-destructive strategies capable to identify the location, magnitude, and duration of cellular survival and their fate both at early and late stages. The recent development of imaging techniques offers great potential to address these critical issues by non-invasively tracking the fate of the transplanted cells. This article offers a focused presentation of some examples of the use of imaging techniques connected to the nanotechnological world in research areas related to stem cells. In particular, investigations concerning stem cell treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Infarcted Heart and bone tissue engineering in animal models are discussed